concertina226 writes: According to German reports, the Bonn-based Computer Network Operations (CNO) unit had existed since 2006 but was only now being readied for deployment under the control of the country’s military.

"The initial capacity to operate in hostile networks has been achieved," a German press agency reported the brief document as saying. The unit had already conducted closed lab simulations of cyber-attacks.

Unlike physical attacks, cyber-weapons can’t be isolated from their surroundings with the same degree of certainty. If, as a growing body of evidence suggests, the US Government sanctioned the use of cyber-malware such as Stuxnet, are the authorities also held responsible should such campaigns hit unintended victims?